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Thursday, 22 December 2011

Oh my goodness where has the month gone? Actually I know where it has gone, into a whirlwind of parties and shopping! There has even been a little bit of sewing but that will have to wait until the new year to see that as I still have to wrap presents and pack before we head off to see friends in LA tomorrow.

I did foolishly ask my sister in law what I could get my nieces for Christmas and she said they would love something made by me - argh not what I wanted to hear mid December with last posting dates imminent! But I managed to whip up two bags in sparkly denim using Vogue 8527, view C. I really like the bags, but if I make it for myself then I would add much stiffer interfacing, but for dressing up fun bags these will do just fine I hope.

Wishing you all very happy holidays and here is to another great sewing year in 2012. I think my new years resolution will be to get more organised with my blogging!

My husband picked this apple up at our gym, I have no idea how they did it but I'm not sure I want to eat it!

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Thank you everyone for the brilliant comments which really helped me make up my mind about what to sew next. I will show you those plans in my next post because it seems even just writing down how I was feeling helped kickstart the old sewing mojo and I whipped up a top for the holidays.

Don't worry I haven't abandoned the Burda 11/11 dress, in fact stepping back from that helped me realise that all my problems came after setting in the sleeves - which are a little tight so I think they are pulling the bodice out of whack- so I am going to take them out and the dress may well end up sleeveless.

Anyway here is my holiday top, using the blue sequin jersey I bought recently. I used a simple BurdaStyle top that I have made before (08/2009 - 117) and modified it so the front was cut on the fold and I ignored the front slit and ruffle. I also took the top in at the side seams since the original pattern is designed for a non stretch fabric. I chose this pattern because I already had it traced and I wanted something with as few seams as possible, but any TNT tshirt or top pattern should work.

I know that this is not the generally accepted correct way to finish seams on sequin fabric, but I didn't want a 2 hour project to become a 2 month project and I think what I came up with, after a bit of experimentation, works really well.

There are two issues with the seams on sequin fabric

finishing the seam allowances so you don't shed sequins everywhere you go

stopping the sequins on the inside from scratching the skin

For the side and shoulder seams I cut strips of cotton jersey and just sewed them over the (fingerpressed) open seam allowances. I did shake off the sequins that were easy to get off first (warning: you will get bits of sequins everywhere!)

For the straight arm openings and hem I also used strips, but applied them as hem facings them flipped to the inside, topstitched and trimmed the raw edge of the cotton jersey close to the topstitching. I used a similar method for the neck edge, but cut shaped facings instead of strips.

I knocked this up on Saturday afternoon and wore it that night with dark jeans and heels. It was the perfect thing to wear for a casual party and I got many compliments so I think this one will get a bit of wear this holiday season.

These Saturday night photos are a little dark, but you can see the sparkles, and yes one of my cats also makes an appearance again.

Me at the party with a living statue (bit nervous he'd get make up on my top!).

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Well I am just emerging from the dust and mess after having my floors redone. It would have been far easier to move out for a few days, but since accommodation & storage (for both cats and furniture) are all vastly expensive here we decided to just suck it up and live amongst the mess, moving a mattress around from room to room as appropriate. I hope I don't have to do that again, getting too old for that kind of malarky. Anyway it's done, it looks almost exactly the same as our self levelling concrete floor did before but now in ceramic tiles which I hope will be more resilient.

Anyway everything is now connected up again so I can get online at home and catch up with all your blogs. I also need to get myself back into the sewing room which is mostly tidy. Tidyish. Well as tidy as it was before (i.e. a mess).

Friends, I have to admit I am really struggling with the fit on the Burda dress and it is sapping all my sewing energy. It looked absolutely fine when I just roughly pinned it together for the photo in my previous post, but do you think I can get anything like that when I sew it for real? It's driving me crazy.

I may have to put it aside for a week or two and work on something else, but even here I am having procrastination issues. I really want to make some fall dresses from my recent jersey haul - here are some patterns in my stash I am considering, all thoughts and general kicks up the backside to just get on with something will be much appreciated!

BurdaStyle 06/2011-139

DKNY Vogue 1257

Vogue 8379

Hot Patterns Cosmo dress

BurdaStyle 02/2008-103 (3/4 sleeve version)

And for Robin here is the current state of my fabric stash, not too crazy but there should be plenty of inspiration in here. The cutting surface below flips up to cover all this up if I need to hide it!

Finally, CGCouture asked about magazine subscriptions. Personally if I could only get one it would be Burda, I use it the most mainly because it is available in english, it has it's dodgy periods but is going through a good phase right now. Patrones (Spanish) and Mannequim (Brazilian) both really appeal to me too. Melissa at Fehr Trade has put lots of information on the various subscriptions available so I recommend a look over there to help you decide which magazine is right for you.